Profile

I am a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Economics, and also serve as the Director of Impact for Newcastle University Business School (since January 2026). I am a Research Fellow at Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) and a Fellow at Global Labor Organization (GLO). I was previously Research Fellow at United Nations University's World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) in Helsinki, Finland (2015-18).

I am a development and behavioural economist working on inequality, gender, labour markets, and environmental sustainability in low- and middle-income countries. My research uses experimental and quasi-experimental methods to study how perceptions, social norms, and institutions influence economic behaviour and policy-relevant outcomes. Much of my work focuses on India and Vietnam. 

My recent and ongoing funded projects include: "Energy Transition and Climate-Smart Agriculture in Vietnam" funded by the Danida Fellowship Centre (2024-2028), "Living Deltas" Hub funded by the UKRI GCRF (2019-24) and "Enhancing the Effectiveness of Vocational Education in Vietnam" funded by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2020-24). 

Link to my CV

Link to my personal website

Educational qualifications

Ph.D Economics, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, 2015

M.A. Economics, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, 2008

B.A. Economics, Lady Shri Ram College, University of Delhi, 2006

Prospective PhD students

I am happy to supervise students in my areas of interest. Please drop me an email with a CV and a research proposal if you are interested in being supervised by me. 

Working papers

Merit, Luck, and Gender in Redistributive Preferences: Experimental Evidence from Vietnam (with Saurabh Singhal, Finn Tarp & Minh Chau Tran)

When The Rain Falls: In-Utero Weather Shocks and Child Health in Guyana (with Nichola Williams & Sara Maioli)

An Economic Evaluation of Climate Morbidity Risks (with Susan Chilton, Darren Duxbury, Irene Mussio, Shehrin Shaila Mahmood & Mohammad Wahid Ahmed) [email me for a draft]

Towards Zero Waste Dining: Evaluating the Impact of Direct and Indirect Interventions on Sustainable Consumer Behaviour (with Alexandra Neill, Diogo Souza Monteiro & David Just) [email me for a draft]

How Do Income-Based Descriptive Norms Affect Environmental Decision-Making? (with Sijia Liang, Matt Walker and Till Weber) [email me for a draft]

Selected works-in-progress

Gendered Effects of Employability Interventions: Experimental Evidence from Vietnam (with Saurabh Singhal, Finn Tarp, Diego Ubfal & Lore Vandewalle)

Achieving Gender Equality and Female Empowerment: An Examination of the Role of Media (with Tom Lane, Pushkar Maitra & Rajesh Ramachandran) [Pre-registry]

Burning Questions: Lessons from Vietnam's Stubble Burning Ban (with Anh Bui, Saurabh Singhal & Finn Tarp)

Blogs/interviews/book reviews

The Critical Role of Soft Skills in Labour Market Success, The Story Beneath, 26 August 2024

The forgotten psychological cost of corruption in developing countries. The Conversation UK, 14 May 2021

Rank and peer effects in higher education: Evidence from India. VoxDev, 12 March 2021

Caste gaps in behaviour and personality traits: A study of university students. Ideas for India, 4 December 2020 (also published in the Hindi section of Ideas for India on 5 February 2021)

Are employees in Vietnamese SMEs compensated for working in unfavourable conditions? UNU-WIDER Research Brief, October 2020

To compete or not to compete? Newcastle University REACH magazine, Spring 2020

Moving out of identity silos and into intersectionality: The example of gender identity. EADI Blog, 29 May 2019

Gods and Rupees, book review of The Economics of Religion in India by Sriya Iyer, Books and Ideas, 16 May 2019 

The Conspicuous Absence of Women in India's Labour Force, The Conversation UK, 15 May 2019 (republished in Business Standard, Independent, ThePrint, and Asian Age)

An Interview on Lessons from UNU-WIDER's Gender Research, VoxEU.org, July 2018 (video)

Panel on Girls’ Education Research and Policy Symposium: Reaching the Most Marginalized at Brookings Institution, DC, 8 November 2017 (video)

Peer Influence and Human Capital Accumulation: Evidence from Delhi University Colleges, Ideas for India, 7 November 2017 (reprinted in WIDERAngle blog)

Educating India's Dalit Children Can Change the Discourse Around Caste, NewsDeeply, 6 September 2017

Achieving Gender Equality in India: What Works, and What doesn't, The Conversation Global, 8 November 2016 (republished in The Huffington Post)

An Interview on Gender Discrimination and Violence, Econ Films, September 2016 (video)

Entrepreneurship or Survival? Caste and Gender of Small Business in India, Ideas for India, 23 September 2013 (republished in Live Mint)

Media coverage of my research

Economics Digest, LiveMint, 10 February 2018

What Lies Behind the Spurt in Anti-Dalit Crimes in India?, LiveMint, 10 January 2018

The Ugly Reality of Caste Violence and Discrimination in Urban India, The Wire, 11 December 2017

The Many Shades of Caste Inequality in India, LiveMint, 18 October 2016

The Way Forward for Dalit Capitalism, LiveMint, 19 August 2016

How the Socioeconomic Fabric has Changed, Business Standard, 27 March 2016

The Quota Rush, Indian Express, 27 February 2016

As the Disadvantaged Rise, Those Above Push Back, Wall Street Journal India, 12 December 2012

Conferences, seminars, and policy panels (since 2015)

2026: Queen's University Belfast (invited seminar); Kent Development Workshop (invited); Royal Economic Society Annual Conference, Newcastle

2024: University of Sheffield (invited seminar); Third Scotland and Northern England Conference in Applied Microeconomics; Nordic Conference in Development Economics; Copenhagen; Durham Development Economics Workshop

2022: Nordic Conference in Development Economics, Helsinki

2021 (online): Academy of Management (invited panel on Racial Justice and Organisations); International Economics Association (invited session); INET Young Scholars' Initiative South Asia (invited webinar); UNU-WIDER (invited seminar); Graduate Institute, Geneva (invited seminar)

2020 (cancelled/postponed due to Covid-19): CSAE Conference, Oxford; University of Exeter (invited seminar); International Economics Association, Indonesia (invited session)

2019: University of Kent (invited seminar); University College Dublin (invited seminar); Royal Economic Society Women's Mentoring Retreat, Warwick; Development Economics and Policy Conference, DIW Berlin; Nordic Conference on Development Economics, Copenhagen; Workshop on Social Economy for Young Economists, Bologna; DIAL Development Conference, Paris; Workshop on Labour and Family Economics, University of York; University of Nottingham (invited seminar); University of Reading (invited seminar). 

2018: ASSA Annual Meeting, Philadelphia (invited discussant); Nordic Conference on Development Economics, Helsinki.

2017: Leuven Education Economics Research Workshop, Leuven; HECER Labour Seminar, Helsinki (invited seminar); Nordic Conference on Development Economics, Gothenburg; International Economics Association World Congress, Mexico City; 4th DIAL Conference, Paris; 4th SITES-IDEAs Development Conference, Rome; NEUDC 2017, Tufts; Girls’ Education Research and Policy Symposium at Brookings, Washington, DC (invited panelist); Queen’s University Belfast; Newcastle University Business School.

2016: ASREC Europe, Copenhagen; UNU-WIDER Conference on Human Capital and Growth, Helsinki; Nordic Conference on Development Economics, Oslo; Women in Economics (WinE) Mentoring Retreat, Geneva; UNU-WIDER Conference on Responding to Crises (chair & session organizer); The Choice Lab Seminar, NHH Bergen (invited seminar).

2015: UNU-WIDER 30th anniversary conference (invited discussant); 3rd DIAL Conference, Paris; Nordic Conference on Development Economics, Copenhagen; 10th IZA/WB Conference on Employment and Development, Bonn; Midwest International Economic Development Conference, Madison; Royal Economic Society Conference, Manchester.

Teaching Experience

Newcastle University Business School

2025-26: Development Economics (UG)

2023-24: Development Economics (UG)

2021-22: Applied Economics (UG), Development Economics (UG), Dissertation supervision (UG)

2020-21: Applied Economics (UG), Development Economics (UG), Dissertation supervision (UG)

2019-20: European Economics (UG), Applied Economics (UG), Development Economics (UG), Economic Analysis (UG), Dissertation supervision (PG)

2018-19: European Economics (UG), Applied Economics (UG), Dissertation supervision (PG)

Helsinki Centre for Economic Research (HECER)

2015-18: Guest Lecturer for Development Economics (PG) 

2015: Co-supervisor, MA thesis by Emmi Hentila, Aalto University

PhD Supervision Experience

Completed:

• Scott Kirkman (with John Wildman and James Law), graduated 2021, social mobility and risky behaviour
• Nichola Williams (with Sara Maioli), graduated 2023, health and education in Guyana
• Liangxun Xie (with Nils Braakmann and John Wildman), graduated 2024, public sector and public infrastructure
• Alexandra Neill (with Diogo Souza Monteiro and Alex Hughes), graduated 2026, reducing food waste in the restaurant sector in North-East England

Ongoing:

• Sijia Liang (with Till Weber and Matt Walker), since 09/2022
• Millie Beckett (with Till Weber and Darren Duxbury), since 09/2024

• Articles

  • Kamei K, Sharma S, Walker MJ. Collective sanction enforcement: New experimental evidence from two societies. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 2025, 237, 107138.
  • Sharma S, Siddique A. Non-WEIRD Preferences. In: Dasgupta U; Maita P, ed. Handbook of Experimental Development Economics. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2025, pp.11-27.
  • Chilton S, Duxbury D, Mussio I, Nielsen JS, Sharma S. A double-bounded risk-risk trade-off analysis of heatwave-related mortality risk: Evidence from India. Journal of Risk and Uncertainty 2024, 68, 1-23.
  • Dasgupta U, Mani S, Sharma S, Singhal S. Social Identity, Behavior and Personality: Evidence from India. The Journal of Development Studies 2023, 59(4), 472-489.
  • Nordman CJ, Sharma S, Sunder N. Here Comes the Rain Again: Productivity Shocks, Educational Investments, and Child Work. Economic Development and Cultural Change 2022, 70(3), 1041-1063.
  • Markussen T, Sharma S, Singhal S, Tarp F. Inequality, Institutions and Cooperation. European Economic Review 2021, 138, 103842.
  • Sharma S, Singhal S, Tarp F. Corruption and Mental Health: Evidence from Vietnam. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 2021, 185, 125-137.
  • Dasgupta U, Mani S, Sharma S, Singhal S. Effects of peers and rank on cognition, preferences and personality. Review of Economics and Statistics 2020, 104(3), 587–601.
  • Nordman CJ, Sarr LR, Sharma S. Skills, personality traits, and gender wage gaps: evidence from Bangladesh. Oxford Economic Papers 2019, 71(3), 687-708.
  • Dasgupta U, Mani S, Sharma S, Singhal S. Internal and External Validity: Comparing Two Simple Risk Elicitation Tasks. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics 2019, 81, 39-46.
  • Dasgupta U, Mani S, Sharma S, Singhal S. Can gender differences in distributional preferences explain gender gaps in competition?. Journal of Economic Psychology 2019, 70, 1-11.
  • Sharma S, Tarp F. Female autonomy and women's welfare: An introduction. Review of Development Economics 2018, 22(4), 1385-1389.
  • Sharma S, Tarp F. Does managerial personality matter? Evidence from firms in Vietnam. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 2018, 150, 432-445.
  • Deshpande A, Sharma S. Disadvantage and discrimination in self-employment: Caste gaps in earnings in small Indian businesses. Small Business Economics 2016, 46(2), 325-346.
  • Sharma S. Gender and distributional preferences: Experimental evidence from India. Journal of Economic Psychology 2015, 50, 113-123.
  • Sharma S. Caste-based crimes and economic status: Evidence from India. Journal of Comparative Economics 2015, 43(1), 204-226.
  • Sharma S. Benefits of a registration policy for microenterprise performance in India. Small Business Economics 2014, 42(1), 153-164.
  • Deshpande A, Sharma S. Entrepreneurship or survival? Caste and gender of small business in India. Economic and Political Weekly 2013, XLVIII(28), 38-49.

• Book Chapters

  • Sharma S. Disadvantage and Discrimination in Self-Employment and Entrepreneurship. In: Ashwini Deshpande, ed. Handbook of Economics of Discrimination and Affirmative Action. Singapore: Springer, 2023, pp.615-631.
  • Nordman CJ, Sharma S. Pecuniary returns to working conditions in Vietnam. In: John Rand and Finn Tarp, ed. Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises in Vietnam. Oxford University Press, 2020.